Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
CAMDEN, N.J. – The former Ross Family Service Coordinator for the Atlantic City Housing Authority and Urban Redevelopment Agency today admitted to fraudulently applying for and obtaining COVID-19 relief funds, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced.
Luquay Zahir, 50, of Atlantic City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams to two counts of an information charging him with making false statements to influence the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and wire fraud.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
In 2020 and 2021, Zahir, then the Ross Family Service Coordinator for the Atlantic City Housing Authority and Urban Redevelopment Agency, fraudulently obtained more than $30,000 through a Paycheck Protection Program loan and Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance issued under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
The count of making false statements to influence the SBA carries a maximum potential penalty of two years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. The count of wire fraud carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Acting U.S. Attorney Khanna credited special agents of the FBI, Newark Division, Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian J. Driscoll; and special agents of SBA Office of Inspector General’s Eastern Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Braithwaite, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric A. Boden, Attorney-in-Charge of the Trenton Branch Office, working in conjunction with the Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.